Adolescent Drinking Affects Memory And Learning Skills

Forum 9 years ago

Adolescent Drinking Affects Memory And Learning Skills

Drinking heavily as an adolescent could do long-lasting damage to the area of the brain that controls learning and memory, according to researchers at Duke Medicine who have just conducted a new study.


The study examined the cellular changes that accompanied adolescent exposure to alcohol in rats.


The study, published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, examines how exposure to alcohol during adolescence can affect the growth of a brain that has yet to develop fully, leading to abnormalities that can influence behavior in adulthood.


“In the eyes of the law, once people reach the age of 18, they are considered adult, but the brain continues to mature and refine all the way into the mid-20s,” says lead author Mary-Louise Risher.
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